Proper way to start back up on guitar?

I started playing guitar when I was 7 but I ended up quitting for lack of a teacher a few years later. I am now 18 and I want to start up again but I remember nothing. I want to play guitar right so I want to learn without taking shortcuts persay. By shortcuts I mean just learning tabs. In particular, I want to play blues music. I have me an electric guitar ( Ibanez GAX series). Does anyone have any advice on where to start?

nice guitar.
first things first, you need to learn/re-learn the basics, which are chords.
learn and memorize as many as you can, starting off with the basics and just practice till your fingers bleed. also buy a metronome, which helps with improving speed.
blues guitar is very compex style of music, and its mostly lead (which are notes, not chords) so practice scales as well. a good site for tabs and songs to practive with is
www.ultimate-guitar.com

--also its never too late to get help and lessons from a professional. good luck

Well, if you don't have a good teacher available, try homespuntapes.com. they have some good blues instruction DVD's, as well as other styles. A good chord book is also a must. There's a bunch out there, just find one that is easy for you to read and makes sense to you. If you can dedicate yourself to learning the fretboard notes and scales, this will be invaluable in learning any type of music. Good luck, pt

Learn your chords first and which chords go with which major keys (you can learn about other kinds of keys later). Learn to read music and where the corresponding notes are on the guitar. Play a lot and you'll get better quicker, and your fingers will develop callouses sooner. Don't give up, it's hard!

If you're serious about this your fingers will get sore. Go to the drug store and get some tincture of benzoin, mix it 1/2 and 1/2 with alcohol and put it on your finger tips. It will make the skin tough. It's an old gymnastics trick. Now sit down, close the door and practice...and practice........and practice.

If you want to get back into it take lessons. If you want to MASTER the guitar, take classical-method lessons from a QUALIFIED teacher - preferably someone with a degree in music education. All of the truly great guitarist have had at least some form of classical-method training - it is the ultimate in control.

If you don't use it, you lose it. BUT!

The good news is, if you HAD it and lost it, it comes back much more quickly than when you were trying to get it back in the first place!

Go back to the first-grade type easy books. It will suck and make you feel a little like a loser who can't play at first ... but you will go through them much more quickly and come out with a solid foundation.

Learn to read tab and you will pick it up in not time . And Get your self the Hal Lenard Blues method book 1 , That should get you back in to The groove